Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Elysian Brewing Celebrates Moon Landing Anniversary with Special Labels

Pat Evans
By

Plenty of brands are celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of humankind’s biggest achievements: landing on the moon. Elysian Brewing is one of those brands and is commemorating the milestone by rebranding one of its flagship beers, Space Dust IPA, with three special-edition labels. 

The labels are available now in select markets, including Washington, Florida and Texas, but only while supplies last.

Recommended Videos

The labels are driven by the Elysians proximity to Boeing Field and the Museum of Flight in Seattle. The museum approached the brand’s director of partnerships to help celebrate and Elysian “jumped at the chance,” according to Nick Mallory, Elysian director of marketing.

Elysian Brewing Space Dust
Image used with permission by copyright holder

“After a few meetings with the entire in-house marketing team, it became apparent that doing some sort of commemorative label would be cool, and of course, it offered up a natural tie-in to our Space Dust IPA,” Mallory said. “Since there were three astronauts in the Apollo 11 mission, and we have three in-house designers at Elysian, it made sense to have all three of them collaborate on the design of the label. The result was an amazing, creative collaboration reflective of the spirit and aesthetic of the time.”

Related

Three separate labels were released this month celebrating the lift-off, landing, and return of Apollo 11 in 1969.

“This project was a collaborative effort between Elysian’s in-house design team with each artist illustrating a bottle in tribute to the different phases of Apollo 11’s voyage from the viewpoint of those watching at home,” said Amy England, Elysian senior graphic designer. “To reflect the three astronauts, three of our designers put together a label to represent each phase of the journey, lift-off, landing, and return. Each label takes inspiration from the design style and colors in vogue at the time.”

Elysian Brewing Space Dust
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Space Dust will be pouring at the Museum of Flights Lunar Block Party July 19-21, just 10 minutes from the Elysian’s taproom. Likewise, the three labels will be showcased across Seattle retailers along with special commemorative labels by Jones Soda and Seattle Chocolate.

The brewery also felt a strong connection to space exploration, as Mallory said the brewer like to push boundaries on beers others say can’t be done. Elysian did consider making a special brew for the event, but the natural tie-in with Space Dust was too natural to pass up, Mallory said.

“Additionally since Space Dust is a top craft IPA in many markets, we knew we could take our moon landing commemoration on the road and shred with other Elysian fans in select markets,” he said.

Elysian Brewing Space Dust
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Elysian is one of AB-InBev’s craft brands, acquired in 2015. AB-InBev’s flagship brand, Budweiser, is also celebrating the historic moon landing with a special beer of its own, the Discovery Reserve American Red Lager.

“This Bud’s for those who challenged the odds and made the impossible, possible,” said Ricardo Marques, Anheuser-Busch vice president of marketing core & value brands. “Budweiser Discovery Reserve is our tribute to this epic moment in history, one that will certainly continue to inspire generations of present and future explorers.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Pat Evans
Pat Evans
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Pat Evans is a writer based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, focusing on food and beer, spirits, business, and sports. His full…
The Danish Beer Empire Continues to Grow as Mikkeller Lands in Portland
Mikkeller Brewing

It’s been a crazy few months in Portland, Oregon, one of America’s great beer cities. The Rose City lost a couple of big players in Burnside Brewing and Bridgeport, but gained a significant one in Mikkeller. The internationally acclaimed Danish producer is officially setting up shop in the Pacific Northwest.
For the record, Mikkeller has eight American establishments. Only two, however, are producing beer. For a brewery known for experimentation, this could be a downright godsend. Portland offers near-outstanding agricultural terrain, from hops to all kinds of fruit, produce, and forage-able goods. Should Mikkeller decide to produce as well as pour here, we could see some very interesting products roll down the line.
There have already been a few collaborations. Oregon sour beer specialists Cascade teamed up with Mikkeller to release the Bean-to-Barrel Triple. The beer is a blend of sour ales, Oregon and French oak, and cocoa nibs from Bean Geeks Craft Chocolate in Copenhagen. Another, aptly named F--king Classy, is a clean and surprisingly flavorful brut IPA made in tandem with Gigantic Brewing. It’s one of the better versions of the still-emerging beer genre.
So far, Mikkeller’s spot is just a pop-up, set in the old Burnside Brewery off the famous street the former place borrowed its name from. With space to brew and lots of eager collaborators in the Portland picture — not to mention Mikkeller’s distribution prowess — it’s an exciting period for fans of the Scandinavian label. The momentum only continues with the recent announcement that the pop-up will include food from famed Momofuku Las Vegas chef Shaun King. It is slated to be a full-service restaurant with a Japanese streak, per the chef’s background.

For those who don’t know Mikkeller, here’s a quick primer: The brewery launched as essentially a garage operation in Copenhagen in 2006. Brewer Mikkel Borg Bjergsø tinkered with recipes from home in between teaching math and physics. The label now encompasses 40 countries but remains relatively small and experimental in terms of production. Their immediately recognizable labels are colorful and feature the playful artwork of Keith Shore.
Mikkel Borg Bjergsø's brother, Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, is the brains behind Evil Twin Brewing. It’s industry legend that the siblings’ opposite personalities drove them apart. Both are fascinated by beer and known for collaborations, just not with each other. Evil Twin was considered a gypsy operation for many years, turning out one-off brews with friends in the industry before opening a production space in Queens earlier this year. The Danish empire continues.
If you haven't tried any Mikkeller beers yet, here are a few to start with:

Read more
Cocktail classics: the Negroni and its millions of variations
Negroni

Of all the classic cocktails that are well-known in bars across the world, one stands out for being both complex fascinating to drink, but also incredibly easy to make: the negroni. This beloved cocktail from Italy consists of equal parts of gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari, and it doesn't even need to be shaken. Traditionally made in a mixing glass, where it is stirred with ice to add water, in practice you can even add the ingredients to a tumbler glass with a large ice cube and stir it in the glass. That isn't really the technically correct way to make the drink, but it works well enough and means that you can make this cocktail with practically no equipment whatsoever.
The negroni is popular for its intense, bitter flavors and its bright red color, both of which come from the Campari. But the addition of gin gives the drink that heavy, boozy note with plenty of spicy juniper, and the sweet vermouth adds a touch of sweetness and more herbal notes. The result is a drink which packs an incredible flavor punch, and which tends to be either loved or hated (mostly depending on how you feel about Campari).
Thanks to its simplicity, the negroni lends itself to endless variations. While in truth I think it's hard to beat the classic version of this cocktail, if you're a long-time negroni drinker and you're looking to try something new – or maybe even if you're not a fan of the classic negroni but are interested in finding a version which does work for you – then we've got suggestions on some of the many variations you can try.

Experimenting with gins

Read more
Gose-style beers are perfect for spring, and these are our favorites
This salty, tart, sour beer is perfect for spring.
Gose beer

As we mentioned in an earlier post, the Gose style might be the best beer choice for spring and summer drinking. This wheat beer is top-fermented and gets a second fermentation with lactobacillus bacteria. This gives it a tart, sour flavor profile similar to your favorite sour ale. The addition of coriander and sea salt adds some spice and salinity to this very unique, refreshing beer.

On top of that, this tart, salty thirst-quencher is usually between 4-5% ABV. This results in a crushable, salty, crisp beer you won’t be able to put down even between horseshoe throws or cornhole turns.
A strange, salty history

Read more